Southeast Asia has the opportunity to redefine inclusive development for the region by raising standards for data and ethical AI through multistakeholder approaches. If the current policy conversation does not evolve, the region risks ceding its voice to outsiders and reinforcing existing power structures that are unsuitable for the region’s long-term wellbeing. This publication is the culmination of a year-long research project on two major, inter- linked pieces of the technological puzzle — data and artificial intelligence (AI) — in five Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Of importance to us was the extent to which data has contributed to inclusive development and ethics relating to AI in all five countries.

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